People obtain information from their adjacent neighbourhood with their senses, e.g. sight and hearing. It is not usual for people to have any real-time information about their neighbourhood beyond the information provided by such senses.
Information networks are not optimized to provide local information efficiently, and it is difficult for people to access information networks while they are moving. This is because information networks are not optimised to provide local information efficiently.
When a person is on the move, carrying a mobile telephone or wireless equipped personal data assistant (PDA) for example, there are limited methods for ‘pushing’ information in certain places. For example, adverts may be ‘pushed’ to a mobile telephone, i.e. sent to the receiver using for example SMS or WAP push functionality, where receiving user action is not needed. Similarly there are limited opportunities for a user of a mobile terminal to provide a provider of local services with information relating to their interests, or to access local bulletin boards.
Increasingly, mobile (and fixed) devices are equipped with short-range radio communication means, such as Bluetooth, WLAN or infra-red (IR), to avoid cable connections in local communication. These short-range links are specifically provided for local communication. However the use of these short-range communication links requires a degree of technical competence from a user, which they may not possess, or may not be inclined to spend time implementing.
Therefore, at present, these short-range communication links are not extensively used. Where they are used, they are used for short-range point-to-point communication between two devices, e.g. between any ones of: a laptop computer; a cellular phone; a PDA; a printer; a Bluetooth access point; a Bluetooth user device; or a digital camera.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to one or all of the above-stated problems.